Adrienne Brand Photography

I've been graced with seeing multiple sides of my son's personality, from serious nine-year-old businessman to a jokester who just wants to make his mom laugh. At the beginning of his third-grade career, I told my son I wanted to photograph him on his first day of school. After torturing me with the informal tie and a baseball cap, he explained that he would be wearing his tie on day two instead of day one. I very lightly tried to bribe him into wearing a more formal outfit for his first day-which he's usually very excited about. Video games? Later bedtime? No. He wasn't having any of it. He stayed with the hat that he loved from his favorite babysitter, and the tie-dye shirt that we had purchased on our cruise vacation. I do remember he did indeed wear his tie and collared shirt on the second day of school. But without this photo I may not have remembered the entire scenario. If your children are young, capture these moments now. Because the feeling from a conversation...

🔶 For his entire 9 years, my son has only known what it's been like to hve a family of two: him and me. After years of asking and us dreaming, I finally put words into action – with much anxiety – and booked a Disney Vacation for just the two of us. I was no longer going to allow fear to dictate lackluster vacations.  🔶 After a tremendous amout of research, planning and execution, we arrived safely at our room in Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort. I was exhausted, my brain practically on-fire from concern. After inspecting our entire room, I returned to the bed to drop my bag. There, on the pillow, was this note.  🔶 My eyes instantly filled with tears and I was overwelmed with love for this child of mine who was so excited and grateful to have a mom who put her fear aside – multiple times – to make his life the best it could be.  🔶As a society, we dont get moments like this often. Our culture demands a full working and playing schedule that forces these moments to slip ...